


Agreement

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [49]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fae & Fairies, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Plans, Sisters, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1901031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Technicalities are overrated, and the Bellefleur girls just want to help, despite their father's ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Agreement

**Author's Note:**

> Part two, "Fire."

“This is so unfair,” Charlaine grumbles, landing on her bed.

Even with their door slammed shut, they can hear their father downstairs, arguing with Sookie in his most grumbly growl of a voice, and he’s been at it for near an hour.  Apparently letting his daughters help bust up a technically government-sanctioned facility is okay, but suddenly letting his daughters help take down an evil god isn’t.

(Well, when they think of it that way, it’s kind of reasonable, maybe, but they don’t wanna be reasonable. They want to help like they promised they would, like they’ve been training to do.)

“He’s just tryin’ to look out for us,” Adilyn says, leaning against the door and heaving a sigh that’s all doubt and split loyalties of sorts.

“Blah blah blah,” Braelyn snaps, pushing off so her desk chair begins to spin.  “It’s dumb.  We can look out for ourselves.  We did before.”

“Before all we were doin’ was guardin’ entrances,” Adilyn points out, not unkindly but matter-of-factly.  “Not goin’ in and playin’ body guard during an actual battle with actual vampires.”

“Whose side are you on?” Charlaine asks, scowling.

“Ours,” Adilyn retorts.  “I’m not sayin’ it’s right, I’m just sayin’ that’s what he’s thinkin’.”

“We all know what he’s thinkin’, we can all read his mind,” Charlaine sasses.

“Well, then you know that even though he’s wrong he’s comin’ at it from a place of love,” Adilyn says.  It’s not even that she’s not annoyed too, she is, but this is another one of her responsibilities as the oldest and most, well, responsible.  She’s kinda the voice of reason, or allegedly that.

Danika flops over the side of her top bunk and blows her bangs out of her eyes (ineffectively as ever).  “Maybe it’d make him feel better if he saw that we could take care of ourselves in a fight,” she suggests.

“Really?” Braelyn laughs, slightly bitterly.  “Daddy doesn’t know what to make of our fairy shit as it is.”

“Maybe Sookie could explain it to him,” Danika presses.

“She really oughta do that anyway,” Charlaine cuts in.  “It’s gettin’ kinda ridiculous that he still doesn’t get, like, basic functions of our biology or whatever.”

“That’s a fancy five-dollar way of puttin’ it,” Braelyn teases.

“Got it from Nora,” Charlaine admits.  “But that brings up a good point, isn’t it funny that someone who’s supposed to wanna _eat us_ –”

“More than supposed to, ‘least at first,” Danika points out wryly.

“Okay, isn’t it funny that someone who used to wanna eat us knows how we work better than our dad?” Charlaine finishes, and she’s got her smuggest face on, the one that means _yeah, I know I’m right, but go ahead and tell me anyway._

“Yeah, kinda,” Adilyn concedes.  “But it does sound like Sookie’s tryin’ to get through to him and be helpful and all that, and after all this blows over we can get her to sit him down and try to talk to him a little better.  That’d be the best way for Daddy to be able to take care of us.”

“Better than keepin’ us locked inside the house,” Braelyn declares. “I mean, I get that he’s worried, and I get that everything out there’s all complicated an’ dangerous, but if we weren’t gonna be helpful I don’t think Sookie’d invite us, y’know?”

The other three girls nod.  “Right,” Charlaine agrees.  “An’ Sookie may be older than us but we’re more powerful, technically, ain’t we?  Her light’s all… limited, like she was tellin’ us.  We don’t have to worry about that.”

“I don’t think the others would let us come if we weren’t helpful, either,” Adilyn says thoughtfully.  “I mean, we wouldn’t be very good numbers for their side if we couldn’t do anything and all they had to do was worry about protectin’ us.”

“I hope Daddy knows we’re goin’ no matter what he says,” Danika concludes with one of her rare little daring smiles.

“He’ll get over it,” Charlaine smirks.

 

* * *

 

 

Maybe twenty more minutes pass with them just waiting to be summoned down to hear their daddy’s final verdict, which they spend making costume changes and playing with each other’s hair nervously, but then (not soon enough) they hear him call up the stairs for him.

They’re trying to be on their best behavior, so they file down the stairs one by one with careful, very much not presumptuous smiles and cram onto the couch without the usual push and shove.  Perfect alphabetically ordered angels.

“I’m still not sold on this,” Andy begins, crossing his arms, “but I know it means a lot to you, and I know I’m not gonna hear the end of it if I keep you home.”

They all four of them nod eagerly, and Charlaine looks about to say something (along the lines of “you sure would!”) when Sookie picks up on it and silences her with a pointed stare.

“Now I’m resigned to lettin’ you go, but under a few conditions,” he continues.  “First is that when, not _if_ , it starts to hit the fan you get yourselves to safety.”

“We promise, Daddy,” Adilyn says.

“Second, if any vampire that ain’t someone you know even gets near you, you don’t hesitate, you hit ‘em with your… glowy light hands.”

 “You can just call it their light, Andy,” Sookie supplies helpfully.

“Hit ‘em with your light,” Andy amends.

“Of course, Daddy,” Braelyn says.

“Third, I’m gonna insist on the buddy system.”

“We’re not children!” Charlaine exclaims, looking horrified.

“Actually, you are,” Andy points out. “Infants if you wanna get technical.”

“Yeah, well,” Charlaine mumbles. As far as a stranger would know they’re not children, doesn’t that count for anything?

“Buddy system,” Andy repeats. “You four in pairs –”

“I dibs Char!” Braelyn shouts, at the same time that Charlaine exclaims, “I call Brae!” and Adilyn and Danika, the two more understated sisters, look at each other and shrug.

“And then I want each pair with at least one big buddy –”

“Ew,” Adilyn says.

“Adult buddy?”

Charlaine rolls her eyes . “Nuh-uh.”

“One buddy who’s older than you in human years but ain’t strictly a human,” Sookie offers. “That about cover it?”

“Mm-hmm,” they all four chorus.

“I guess I already know how you knew that,” Andy sighs.

 

* * *

 

They’re just starting to load into the van when Tara’s phone goes off and, much to the alarm of everyone else, she cracks up.

“What is it?” Willa asks, twisting in her seat.

“Andy’s makin’ the girls all choose buddies,” Tara sputters. “Like it’s grade school.”

“What’s so funny about that?” Pam asks airily, because it’s not a concept she’s particularly familiar with.

“They’re arguin’ over if they can switch off havin’ you do the honors,” Tara replies.


End file.
